Shirley Boys' High School

Christchurch, New Zealandshirley_boys.jpg

Shirley Boys High School is located in New Zealand, in a city called Christchurch, on the East Coast of the South Island.
According to the school website (http://www.shirley.school.nz/home/), the aim of the school is to "provide a rigorous academic secondary education for boys".
Overall Shirley Boy's aims to produce young men who are responsible citizens, ready to assume useful roles in society. The school aspires that some of its students will go on to become local, national and international leaders with a goal for all its pupils to develop sensitivity to the needs of others. The school also expects every student to take advantage of the abundance of sporting and cultural activities on offer and to set high personal goals which they work hard to achieve.
The school roll has risen over the years from around 600 students to 1400 in the present day. Students range from 12-18 years old across grades 9-13.
The Headteacher of the school is called Mr John Laurenson and there are also over 100 teaching staff within the school who aim to "educate boys towards excellence". The school also strongly encourages parental involvement both in and outside the classroom in supportive as well as leadership capacities.

As the school roll continues to grow, it was decided in 2004 to establish a house system within the school to ensure that students are still able to identify themselves within their education. 4 out of 5 houses were named after famous New Zealanders who excelled in the areas of physical endeavour, academic ability, leadership and cultural/environmental awareness. These four houses were named Blake, Mullins, Rutherford and Snell.
A fifth house was later added to the system to accomodate a further increase in students. This house was named "Aoraki" after the highest mountain in New Zealand.